JR Hildebrand incident in turns 3 and 4…

Just as a quick update to the end-of-day times, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing passed on this quote from JR Hildebrand after his incident today in Turn 3. Hildebrand was checked, cleared and released after contacting the wall exiting Turn 3 and Turn 4. Hildebrand had examined the left rear suspension of the car after he got out of it, before heading into an AMR INDYCAR Safety Team vehicle en route to the infield medical center.

JR Hildebrand barrels into Turn 1 during practice for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (INDYCAR Photo by: James Black)

“We were making some good progress with the car today,” said the driver of the No. 66 Salesforce DRR Chevrolet. “We are chasing the same things with car as everyone else. And we looked like we were getting there with the race setup.

“We were looking forward to making a long run at the end of the day in traffic. We weren’t that deep into the run and we had something happen in Turn 3 with the car. We are still analyzing what might have happen.

“The car felt out of the ordinary. I didn’t feel like I was losing the car at all. I thought for sure I could save the car, which why I’m a little confused on what happened. I did have enough warning to keep it under control.

“It felt like I had a wacky wheel of a shopping cart because the car kept wobbling a bit. But I’m fine and ready to go tomorrow. I feel badly for the crew guys getting the car repaired now. I’m looking forward to Friday’s runs.”

Hildebrand was 20th on the time sheet today with a best speed of 223.351 mph. His best no-tow speed of 219.986 mph ranked 33rd.